Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the World

Amy Kisei

Zen Buddhist teachings point to a profound view of reality--one of deep interconnection and non-separation. Awakening is a word used to describe the freedom, creativity and love of our original nature. This podcast explores the profound liberating teachings of Zen Buddhism at the intersection of dreamwork and the soul. The intention is to offer a view of awakening that explores our deep interconnection with the living world and the cosmos as well as to invite a re-imagining of what human life and culture could be if we lived our awakened nature. Amy Kisei is a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Somatic IFS Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. She practices and teaches at the confluence of spirituality, psychology and somatics--affirming a wholistic path of awakening. You can learn more about Amy Kisei's upcoming retreats and/or 1:1 work on her website: https://www.amykisei.org/ amykisei.substack.com

  1. 2D AGO

    A Lotus Blooming in the Fire

    A lotus blooming in the fire is an image that comes from the Zen tradition. And before I write further on the symbolism of the image or the dharma teachings it evokes—I would like to invite us to just sit with the image of a lotus blooming in the fire. For a moment, let yourself sense, imagine or feel into this image. Notice what you see, feel, hear, experience as you attempt to connect with the image of a lotus blooming in the fire. Now, if you haven’t already bring the image closer in. Sit as, be a lotus blooming in the fire. And stay with it for some time allowing associations, feelings, meanings, sensations to come and go. Returning simply to being a lotus in the fire. When you are ready, you can let the image dissolve. I am curious to hear what you noticed, what happened as you sat with or as a lotus blooming in the fire? The Power of Embodied Imagination To meditate with an image like this, is one form that koan practice can take in the Zen tradition. You sit with an image, becoming the image and learning about it through your direct experience. Notice how an image can contain seeming paradoxes. How can a lotus bloom in fire? Wouldn’t it burn? And yet, here it is. On Wednesday, in Columbus we did this practice with my local sangha Mud Lotus. We sat as lotuses blooming in the fire. People noticed different things about this dynamic of fire and blooming. Someone pointed out that a lotus isn’t trying to stop the fire, yet it is blooming there. Another said that it seemed like the lotus bloomed because of the fire. Others saw the lotus as a reminder of their own nature that isn’t burned in the fires of life. This image was popularized by the great Chan teacher of 11th Century China, Yuan-Wu. He used it to refer to the practice of what he called, Householder Bodhisattvas. Those of us whose practice-awakening happens in the fires of this world, in the challenges of our relationships, in our own inner conflicts or difficulties. How to be a householder bodhisattva, it requires a stand that is solid and true and faith that is thoroughgoing… When bodhisattvas who live a householder’s life cultivate the practices of deep meditation and insight, it is like a lotus blooming in the fire. It will always be hard to tame the will for fame and rank and power and position, not to mention all the myriad starting points of vexation and turmoil associated with the burning house of worldly existence. The only way is for you yourself to realize your fundamental, real wondrous wholeness and reach the stage of great calm, stability and rest. —Yuan-wu Thich Nhat Hanh also used this image in his first book published in English, Vietnam: A Lotus in the Sea of Fire: A Buddhist Proposal for Peace. What are the Fires in your Life? Fire in the Buddhist tradition can be a symbol of suffering in all its manifestations. From the collective forms of suffering that appear as war, violence, injustice, conflict, misuse of power to the more personal forms of suffering that appear as anxiety, worry, terror, fear, shame, physical discomfort, pain. Fire can also be a symbol of the instability of all experience, the changing nature of everyone and everything—in Buddhism we call this impermanence. Suffering and impermanence are two of the marks of existence. A teaching the buddha gave about the nature of experience—basically reminding us that suffering and change are part of life. In the Buddhist teachings, liberation or freedom from suffering is not the absence of pain, violence, fear, change, anxiety, etc. —but is found in the midst of these fires, or whatever fires we find ourselves in. A Lotus Blooms in a Sea of Fire Which brings us to the image of the lotus. The lotus is a symbol of wholeness, it is an image of our true nature—which is always present, reliable, unbreakable yet soft—the blossoming of wisdom and compassion. To realize our buddha nature does not make the fires of our lives go away, it doesn’t mean that the fires in the world stop burning. Awakening is being the lotus blooming in the fire. Its having this refuge of love unconditioned, of spacious awareness, unbreakable kindness in every situation—even as our heart’s break, even as we feel at times like we are falling apart. The lotus of our true nature blooms— even here, even now. Even without our noticing the lotus blooms. Part of what dharma practice is all about is training to recognize the lotus of our true nature, which at times may mean finding ways to nurture and care for our practice in the midst of these world fires. Practicing with others whether it is in-person or online is a way to strengthen this refuge, to recognize for ourselves the lotus that doesn’t burn-up in the fires of stress, overwhelm, fear and all the other forms suffering can take in our lives and in this world. Listen to the dharma talk for a more in-depth discussion of the Lotus in the Fire, and Yuan-wu’s teaching on How to be a Householder Bodhisattva. I’m excited to be co-creating space this Spring and Summer for in-person sesshin/meditation retreats. As well as online immersions with Pause Meditation. See below for upcoming events! Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK Online Meditative Deep Dive with Pause Meditation Beginner’s Mind Saturday March 7th from 10A PT/1P ET - 11:30A PT/2:30P ET In-Person in Oregon Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery Grasses, Trees and the Great Earth— In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. Upcoming Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 (Registration is now open!) Mountains are high and wide. The movement of clouds and the inconceivable power of soaring in the wind comes freely from the mountains. —Dogen Zenji, Mountains and Waters Sutra During this silent, Zen-style retreat we will practice with the mountains and waters, opening to our own mountain-stability and the flowing nature of all experience. Meditation provides the opportunity for intimacy with self and world, recognizing the interconnectedness of this very life. Healing and transformation happen as we abide in the mystery of who we truly are. This will be a silent meditation retreat. After an initial meal, set-up and orientation we will enter noble silence. Supporting each other in connecting with our own inner silence, stability and confidence. We will follow a rigorous daily schedule which includes roughly seven hours of seated meditation, interspersed with periods of walking meditation, chanting practice, dharma talks, opportunities to check-in with one of the practice leaders, outdoor meditation sessions, mindful eating practice during meals, a late morning care-taking practice and breaks where participants have the opportunity to rest, exercise and explore the beautiful grounds and nature. Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 (save the date, registration opens soon!) I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    39 min
  2. FEB 8

    Our Extra-Ordinary Heart

    Greetings Friends, I have been reflecting on one of the simplest and perhaps most profound teachings in the Buddhist tradition— the teaching of our extra-ordinary heart. Our extra-ordinary heart is the aspect of our being that doesn’t die, and isn’t born. That isn’t dependent on us but is a deep refuge and resource—one that we know and rely on all the time. One that we also see demonstrated and embodied in our communities, on the world stage, in the people we love and care about. We are living in a time in this country that feels like we are going backward in many respects. Where state-enforced violence has entered our communities, and families are being separated, detained and deported at an unprecedented rate. While our human hearts break, fear, grieve, feel deeply, love and desire—which is beautiful and painful, and part of what makes this experience of being human. We, together, have an extra-ordinary heart—that is boundless in it’s nature and is always abiding right here. This heart isn’t separate from the very experience of being human, it is intrinsic to our nature. So we too can practice recognizing and abiding in this heart. We too can embody these qualities and let them manifest in our lives and the world. The Buddha taught that our boundless heart has Four Qualities of Boundlessness, also called the Four Divine Abodes Boundless Love/Kindness — which is a friendliness toward existence, agape or universal love, the love of Jesus Christ or Amitabha Buddha or other such figures who love unconditionally Boundless Compassion — is a responsiveness to suffering in self or other which can have many different qualities(protective, patient, nurturing/gentle, strategic, discerning, creative, clear, resourceful) In the Zen tradition we have a story about boundless compassion. It involves two brothers walking down the road together, and one says to the other, “what do you think the bodhisattva of great compassion does with all of their hands and eyes?” To which the other brother replies, “it’s like reaching back in the middle of the night for a pillow.” Compassion is responsive; and takes many forms—so we have this image of a being with ten-thousand arms and hands. In each hand there is a different expression of compassion. So sometimes compassion looks fierce, it’s saying no to violence, it’s standing up for what we care about, other times its gentle, it’s grieving together, or care-taking each other, it can be protective, immediate, systematic and strategic. Boundless Joy — playfulness/spontaneity of being-reality I think we have a meme in our culture, “if you are happy you aren’t paying attention.” But play and creativity have always been part of the resistance, we find the trickster archetype in myths throughout human cultures. We find it throughout spiritual traditions as well from the play/spontaneity of the zen koans to the poetry of the mystics like hafiz, cold mountain and la ded. There is a lot of play, joy and creativity happening in the protests in Minneapolis right now. But boundless joy also speaks to being happy for no good reason, causeless happiness. It’s wonderful to experience the joy of simply being alive. No one can take that away from us. Boundless Peace/Equanimity — this is the wisdom of the deep equality or oneness of all things. Perhaps the hardest to conceive of, because it’s like the peace and presence of the sky. The sky simply allows all forms of weather to move through it, clouds, heavy rains, snow, tornadoes, planes, birds, sunsets all happen in the spaciousness of the sky. The sky simply allows. Our true nature is like the sky. Open, unhindered, allowing, at peace. These four boundless qualities are always abiding in our Extra Ordinary Heart that we call them the divine abodes. We too can abide here. Many people find that through recognizing equanimity the other boundless qualities source forth. They contain each other. And I invite you to explore this for yourself, which qualities feel most familiar? Which are more difficult for you to recognize? How are the four related to each other in your experience? One practice I like to do for connecting with the extra-ordinary-heart is to pay attention to or recognize these qualities as they appear or manifest in my life. So I invite you this week to notice kindness/love, compassion, joy and peace/equanimity. Notice when you experience these qualities, and linger with them, let yourself affirm that they abide in your innermost heart. And also notice when someone else is embodying these qualities, notice them in the natural world, in your community, at work, in the animals you cohabitate with. Another way I connect with the extra-ordinary-heart is I collect poems, art, songs, images that embody these qualities. Here is a favorite. Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness. How you ride and ride thinking the bus will never stop, the passengers eating maize and chicken will stare out the window forever. Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road. You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night with plans and the simple breath that kept him alive. Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow. You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth. Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread, only kindness that raises its head from the crowd of the world to say It is I you have been looking for, and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend. Do you have a favorite poem, song, image or piece of art that embodies one or all of the boundless qualities? Do you have practices for connecting with the four boundless qualities? Feel free to share in the comments section. Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Mountains are high and wide. The movement of clouds and the inconceivable power of soaring in the wind comes freely from the mountains. —Dogen Zenji, Mountains and Waters Sutra During this silent, Zen-style retreat we will practice with the mountains and waters, opening to our own mountain-stability and the flowing nature of all experience. Meditation provides the opportunity for intimacy with self and world, recognizing the interconnectedness of this very life. Healing and transformation happen as we abide in the mystery of who we truly are. This will be a silent meditation retreat. After an initial meal, set-up and orientation we will enter noble silence. Supporting each other in connecting with our own inner silence, stability and confidence. We will follow a rigorous daily schedule which includes roughly seven hours of seated meditation, interspersed with periods of walking meditation, chanting practice, dharma talks, opportunities to check-in with one of the practice leaders, outdoor meditation sessions, mindful eating practice during meals, a late morning care-taking practice and breaks where participants have the opportunity to rest, exercise and explore the beautiful grounds and nature. Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    29 min
  3. JAN 30

    Compassion is Our Nature

    Greetings Friends, In the heartbreak, pain, confusion of this moment. I wish to remember together the Way of the Bodhisattva. The image or archetype of the Bodhisattva resonates deep in the hearts of those oriented towards love for this beautiful and broken world. For a Bodhisattva is motivated to relieve suffering and pain, as they work towards a liberation for all beings. This is the spiritual warrior, who knows that this life is not our own but a shared life. Practice of a bodhisattva is a practice of compassion which has two important dimensions Boundless Compassion or Absolute Compassion and Engaged Compassion or Relative Compassion. Boundless Compassion is a view we can practice and eventually realize. It’s something we sense or know, without thinking. Boundless Compassion reminds us that compassion is our nature. That nothing need be done because it is already so. The spacious, clear source of our being gives rise to compassionate activity. Without needing to think about it, we respond, we care for others. Our heart is inseparable from all that appears in awareness. This body-heart-mind is an organ of compassion. Is the expression of compassion. Is the vehicle of compassion. There is nothing we need to do make it this way. We practice recognizing and trusting our innate compassion in meditation on and off the cushion. Engaged Compassion is the practice of cultivating compassion through our living. Shantideva in his treatise on The Way of the Bodhisattva invokes the aspirational spirit of compassionate service through this heart-felt prayer. Below is an excerpt, in the original Shantideva goes on and on, connecting to this deep intention to offer himself and is practice for the liberation of all beings. Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva For all those ailing in the world, Until their every sickness has been healed, May I myself become for them The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself. Raining down a flood of food and drink, May I dispel the ills of thirst and famine. And in the aeons marked by scarcity and want. May I myself appear as drink and sustenance. For sentient beings, poor and destitute, May I become a treasure ever-plentiful, And lie before them closely in their reach, A varied source of all that they might need. My body, thus, and all my goods besides, And all my merits gained and to be gained, I give them all and do not count the cost, To bring about the benefit of beings. My dharma brother Soten Danney Lynch wrote a rendition of Shantideva’s prayer that we would sing at the monastery. You can listen here. I share this prayer because it can invoke in us the spirit of offering, of recognizing our life as a shared life and awaken in us a deeper connection to the compassion at the heart of our being. I also want to share a teaching called the Five Compassions that can help us connect to a sustainable, joyful and wise compassionate response in our living. The Buddha warned that the near-enemy of compassion is pity. Others have pointed out that empathy, righteousness, and trying to be good out of guilt, or a sense of inadequacy can sometimes feel like compassion but often lead to burn-out, fatigue and resentment. The Five Compassions of Engaged Compassion Wise/Curious Compassion—grounded in the experience of interconnection. A response coming from discernment and deep listening. Fierce/Courageous Compassion—a response aimed to protect self or others, this could include boundary setting, speaking up or acting in a way that even risks one’s own safety to protect another Patient/Calm Compassion—slow, steady, showing up for something or someone we care about or believe in. The longview in bodhisattva language that we will work to help all beings find liberation lifetime after lifetime. A recognition that true, deep, sustaining change often takes time. Joyful/Content Compassion—activity that is nourishing for us and brings us joy or contentment, in Hakomi they use the phrase non-egocentric nourishment to talk about this quality Unified/Confident Compassion—in alignment with our vows, values, capacities Usually all or most of these qualities need to be present in order for our response to feel sustainable and genuine. Compassion is directionless sometimes our compassionate response is directed towards ourselves, and sometimes towards others—is there a difference? Upcoming Retreats and Weekly Drop-in Events Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    34 min
  4. JAN 11

    Stepping from the One-Hundred Foot Pole

    New Years Blessings! And wow, it feels like its off to a chaotic start. In times like these, I find it vital to ground myself in this bodhisattva vow. To remember what is always reliable, no matter what circumstance or situation I find myself in. I would like to share a koan that has been close to my heart as we began 2026. Mumonkan Case 46: Stepping from the Top of the Pole Sekiso asked: How do you step from atop a 100-ft pole? Another eminent master from former times said: You who sit on the top of the 100-ft pole, Although you have entered the Way, it is not yet genuine. Take a step from on top of the pole And worlds of the ten directions are your total body. So many koans use images from our everyday lives. Images we are familiar with. These images can become mindfulness bells. Sensory reminders that speak the language of awakening. Here we have a tall pole. A one hundred foot pole. These are the poles of large flags, like the one in the Perkins parking lot I remember growing up. Any large pole will do though. I have been noticing power line poles. Actually just today the power company came and ascended the thirty foot power pole right across from my office window. So, let me ask. Have you ever been on top of a one hundred foot pole? What about metaphorically? The analogy of being on top of a one hundred foot pole can apply to any place, any belief or habit pattern that we get attached to or stuck in. These are the beliefs, attitudes, experiences, thoughts that keep us at a distance from our lives. Essentially it boils down to the ways we contract around the belief in a separate self. How we feel separate, not good enough, alone, exiled, bad and feed that separation. How we attach to certain beliefs, views or vantage points about ourselves and the world. There is something familiar or even comforting about the beliefs we hold on to about ourselves and the world. But also something deeply uncomfortable—like trying to live on top of a hundred foot pole. We fear falling to our deaths, so we get used to the small, and unstable precipice of our thoughts and beliefs. What are the poles that you sit on top of? How did you get up here? Practice is always inviting us to find these places where we separate —where we defend, withdraw, space-out, get anxious, cling, where we over-think—and get curious about them. Curiosity is a practice of nearness. It’s a commitment to stay with ourselves in our direct experience even if it is uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Even if parts of us believe that it will be our end, it will be the fall to our deaths. Enter the Fool This koan evokes for me the spirit of the Fool card in the Tarot. Someone at home in the mystery—resourceful, responsive and playful. Someone initiated into the wisdom of emptiness. Who has turned themselves inside out and recognize that this whole world is their true body! These are qualities that we often associate with Zen sages and bodhisattvas. These are qualities we are awakening in our own practice. As we enter this New Year, I aspire to come back to zero. To recognize the poles of beliefs, attitudes, fears that I am perched on. And to dare to take the next brave step. Sometimes this is plunging feet first into the unknown, often it is more subtle. Like bringing gentle curiosity to that feeling of stinginess, to the trembling in the heart, to the ways you withdraw or start over-thinking. What is happening here? How can you stay connected to yourself in the aliveness of this experience? We are like this fool-bodhisattva-sage—at home in the mystery, at home in ourselves. May we actualize our playfulness, our resourcefulness and responsiveness this year. May we appreciate the dream. And live from the expansiveness of our true Self. Take a step from on top of the pole And worlds of the ten directions are your total body. Upcoming Retreat and Weekly Drop-in Events Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Universe Somatic: The Bright Thread in the Dark — January 22nd - 25th Universe Somatic is a practice that integrates group meditation, movement and energy work with a spirit of experimentation and playfulness. We explore the union of spaciousness and embodied energies in a contemplative practice that is embodied and expressive. The theme for this Universe Somatic is The Bright Thread In the Dark. We will play in knowing and not-knowing, hope and despair, yin and yang, creation and destruction, dancing in deep relationship with these polarities while also listening for the thread that doesn’t get stuck on either side. Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. Save the Dates! 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    32 min
  5. 12/20/2025

    Faith, Heart and the Return of the Light

    When faith and mind are not separate. And not separate are mind and faith, this is beyond all words, all thoughts. If you have been reading these posts this season, you may have noticed I have been writing about Faith. Writing, reflecting, wondering, wandering through the many expressions of Faith as I returned again and again to this practice poem, Affirming Faith in Mind. There is something both delicious and challenging about coming back to the same teaching, day after day, week by week. Above is the last stanza of the poem. The study of this poem has been part of an autumn practice period I was participating in. The practice period wound down this week, as autumn too is unwinding —turning into winter on Sunday with the solstice. The autumn in the Northern Hemisphere is a time when the daylight hours grow shorter, and night extends her dark embrace. I have found it deeply nourishing to practice and study faith as the earth darkens. It feels seasonally appropriate to contemplate faith as the comfort of the sun’s light and heat diminish. The zodiacal sign Sagittarius, which is where the sun is during this time of year, is often associated with faith, that flickering candlelight that we find in many windows this season. Sagittarius season also is a season of alchemy, art—the ways in which we find light, hope, faith, beauty in the dark. Whatever ways you have been walking through the dark this season or this year, I’m curious how it has offered opportunities for transformation, for unknowing, for faith to deepen in mystery’s obscure light. I offer the questions below, as a bit of a memory walk for the season. Feel free to contemplate them, through journaling, mindfulness or creative expression. * What aspects of life have felt loud during this last season? What has been tugging on your heart? Occupying your time/life energy/mind space? This could be more archetypal energies or particular challenges, inspirations, tasks, questions, inquiries. * Have there been particular moods, inner voices, thought patterns, somatic experiences that have been more present during this season? * What resources (inner or outer), practices, teachings, rituals have you been turning towards or taking refuge in? This could include verses from Affirming Faith in Mind. * Where/how do you feel supported? Is there a person, ancestor, friend, familiar, animal, bodhisattva, dream figure who has been an ally? * As we enter this period of the Solstice and return of the light/holiday season—What is the thread of practice you intend to connect to? As a way of honoring the end to the season and the study I have been engaged with around Faith. I wrote this poem. It’s an exploration of how faith has flickered during these autumn months. How it shows up in the ordinary moments of my living. It’s a practice inquiry I intend to carry. A thread through these holiday weeks and into the new year. I’d love to hear your responses to the reflections or a poem that has been lighting your way during these autumn months. Faith Mind Poem What is faith? I ask my hands They reach down and pick-up the cap to the oat milk that has started rolling down the kitchen floor fingers, wrapping around the cool, wet plastic releasing, they scratch an itch before returning lid to carton opening the refrigerator door All day long they touch They hold, open, prepare, grip, make, reach Recover Always in contact Responding before I can--- What is faith? I ask the lilac Whose gnarled branches Hold the frozen white, crystalline snow Not a single leaf remains Roots entangled with icy earth We breathe together, my breath Becoming wood, branch, trunk We do not speak But sit in each other’s silence Faith perhaps does not need A definition Words to explain it, no essay nor poem For it lives in us constantly Even as everything else appears to be resting Fallow, dark Faith glimmers in the empty space In this heart, in its waiting Upcoming Retreat and Weekly Drop-in Events Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Monday Dec 22nd we will meditate in the dark and by candlelight in celebration of the winter solstice. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Universe Somatic: The Bright Thread in the Dark — January 22nd - 25th Universe Somatic is a practice that integrates group meditation, movement and energy work with a spirit of experimentation and playfulness. We explore the union of spaciousness and embodied energies in a contemplative practice that is embodied and expressive. The theme for this Universe Somatic is The Bright Thread In the Dark. We will play in knowing and not-knowing, hope and despair, yin and yang, creation and destruction, dancing in deep relationship with these polarities while also listening for the thread that doesn’t get stuck on either side. Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. Save the Dates! 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. Earth Dreams is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    35 min
  6. 12/13/2025

    Telling the Story of Awakening

    Tis’ the season for story-telling. I don’t know about you, but there are certain stories I can hear over and over again. These stories often have mythic and archetypal elements, that seem to resonate with the poetics of the soul. In the Zen Buddhist tradition the first week of December is the week we commemorate/remember/celebrate the Buddha’s awakening. We do this with our bodies. Sitting retreat with the orientation that we too can realize our true nature. That we too can awaken. We do this with our hearts and minds. Reading, listening, contemplating the elements of the Buddha’s story, which is mythic in nature. And as we hear the story of the Buddha we are reminded of our own path—that awakening is possible for us and that it is unfolding right here, in this precious life. Below I will share a brief sketch of the Buddha’s story. Please listen to the talk if you want to hear a more fleshed out version. Of course, like all stories, this one changes every time it is told. There actually isn’t any recorded biography of the Buddha in the Pali Cannon, we have some references he makes to his journey and scholars/practitioners have worked to put them together in a cohesive narrative. In this telling, I am choosing the elements that have resonated with me on my own path. I am appreciating how the Buddha’s story has elements of the hero’s journey as well as important dharma teachings. Maha Maya’s Dream The story begins with a dream. Maha Maya, whose name means illusion, dreams one night that she is taken to the mountains by four spirit beings. She is then bathed, anointed with oils, perfumes and flowers. A white elephant appears, circles her three times and pierces her side with his six tusks. She awakens from the dream knowing that she is pregnant with a son. When she tells her husband, King Suddhodana, about the dream he invites the town seer to interpret it. The seer confirms that Maha Maya is indeed pregnant with a son and that he will be either a great king or the founder of a new religion. Upon hearing this prophesy, King Suddhodana decides to make his son’s life so comfortable that he will never want to leave the palace. So Siddaratha Gotma (the Buddha) is born, and lives a sheltered life. He describes it in one sutta, saying: I, lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake… A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew. Disillusionment with a Protected Life/The Four Sights Eventually Siddhartha becomes a young man and one night he wakes before dawn after a party at the palace. He looks around and feels a bit disgusted by what he sees, bodies strewn around, sleeping, smelling of alcohol and sex—from having indulged in all forms of pleasure the night before. His heart questions what he is doing, what kind of life he is living. After this experience, he feels like he needs to see what is beyond the palace walls. So he enlists his charioteer to take him into the town. While they are there Siddhartha sees what has become known as the four sights. He sees someone who is ill, sick crying out in pain. He sees some who is old, hunched over, skin full of wrinkles and he sees a corpse. With each sight, he feels disgust and curiosity. A knowing arises in him that this will also happen to him. He too will age, become ill and die. He becomes disillusioned by his current state of health, youth and life. For what is the point in indulging in the pleasures of health, youth and life, if you are ignoring the truths of sickness, old age and death. Something about this experience really starts to way heavy in his heart, and fill him with great doubt. Then he sees the fourth sight, a renunciate sitting serenely under a tree. He is touched by the look of contentment on this person’s face. Something in him knows that there is a path to realizing a contentment that is beyond sensual pleasures, that one could know freedom, love and joy that wasn’t dependent on conditions. Leaving His Father’s House He knows he has to leave his father’s house. It isn’t an easy decision. One I imagine he tries to ignore, but his doubt and curiosity grow stronger and stronger. In one telling of the story, his wife Yasodhara has eight dreams about the path he needs to take, and so encourages him to go. Before he leaves, they make love and conceive a son. Then Siddhartha shaves his head, puts on the ochre robes of a renunciant and begins the nomadic life of a home-leaver. He meets two teachers, studies with them for years and eventually masters their teachings. But finds that their dharma leads him into deep states of concentration, but does not bring him to liberation. So he eventually leaves them, even though they urge him to teach with them. He then meets five wandering ascetics and starts practicing austerities. He tries to suppress thought, stop his breath, and survive on one spoonful of food a day—none of these techniques work well for him. He speaks of undergoing great physical and emotional pain but being no closer to liberation. In a state of desperation and hunger, a memory arises from childhood, which he describes: “I thought: ‘I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities — I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?’ Then, following on that memory, came the realization: ‘That is the path to Awakening.’ I thought: ‘So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?’ I thought: ‘I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities, but it is not easy to achieve that pleasure with a body so extremely emaciated. Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.’ So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. So he takes some food to nourish his body and with a new clarity, a deeper connection to purpose and himself, he resolves to sit under the bodhi tree until he awakens. Mara’s Temptations Though he is clear in his resolve and clear about the path forward, he still encounters great difficulty. Mara (the tempter or doubting voice in Siddhartha) appears during his meditations tempting him, creating feelings of restlessness in body and in mind, showing scenes from the pleasures he used to have at the palace, conjuring fear/doubt and telling him to give up. Siddhartha eventually sees Mara for what they are, a voice of doubt, and Mara slinks away. The Buddha awakens, upon seeing the morning star rising in the east, after a week of meditation. On the final night he has insights into impermanence, cause and effect and finally the nature of suffering/bondage and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering/bondage. He says in one story, “I, together with all beings and the great earth, awaken.” In another he says: House-builder, you’re seen! You will not build a house again. All your rafters broken, the ridge pole destroyed, gone to the Unformed, the mind has come to the end of craving. The earth rises up and confirms the Buddha’s awakening. After Mara appears and throws more shade on the Buddha. The Buddha questions whether or not he can teach. And remains sitting under the Bodhi tree for another week. During this time a great storm rolls through, and Mucilinda (the snake king), protects the Buddha from the storm with his seven heads. It’s also said that on the night that the Buddha awakened, his wife, Yasodhara gave birth to their son, Rahula. She had been carrying their son for six years, and underwent he own spiritual journey, never leaving home. Does the story really end here? Not really, practice-awakening continues, on and on and on. There are many ways to appreciate a story like this, I have been enjoying looking at the story from the lens of the hero’s journey. So many of the elements of the Buddha’s story are elements that are a part of our own life and the path of practice-awakening. I the new year, I will offer some teachings and reflections on elements of the hero’s journey and the spiritual path. But for now, I would love to hear if any elements from the Buddha’s story touched you in anyway. * Have you had important dreams that gave you confidence about the next step on your path, even if it didn’t make rational sense? * What is your own experience of being disillusioned? Or needing to challenge a teaching, belief or lifestyle that you were raised in? How has doubt been part of your path? * Can you relate to having an experience as a child that feels connected to your path/practice now? Sometimes it feels like we are relearning something we knew naturally as children, does this feel true to you? * The Buddha was supported and protected by the Earth and the snake king—what protectors, supporters or allies have you had in your own life (people, animals, plants, places, dream figures)? * I appreciate Yasodhara’s story as one that happens in the dark space of unknowing, unfolding in her home as she cares for the child she is carrying. In what ways has your own path/practice had elements of darkness, hiddenness, not-knowing and/or nurturing something precious that perhaps you don’t yet know what it is? * Are there any other elements of the Buddha’s story that resonate or that you feel curious about? Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Monday Dec 15th we will do some seasonal reflection as Ango ends and we approach

    45 min
  7. 12/07/2025

    The mysterious source

    I want to return to this profound poem we are studying for the autumn practice period—Affirming Faith in Mind. If mind does not discriminate, all things are as they are as one. To go to this mysterious source—frees us from all entanglements. When all is seen with equal mind, to our self-nature we return. This single mind goes right beyond all reasons and comparison. This poem is about Trust in Mind, Faith in our true nature, Trust in the Heart of Wisdom Do we trust our heart-mind? Do you have faith in the nature of your own mind? Your own heart? This poem is a “pointing out” style teaching. Stanza by stanza, line by line—it’s pointing to the Mind beyond thought. It’s inviting us to recognize who we are beyond our strategies of defending, protecting, judging, identifying. We too can know ourselves as mystery. We too can know the source of all experience. There is encouragement and support to turn towards the apparent source of our suffering, and really look into its nature. To experience for ourselves the freedom, spaciousness, clarity and love of our nature. Right, here. Dahui in one of his letters addresses a student’s concern that he is dull, and his dullness is preventing him from realizing his true nature. Dahui responds: That which perceives dullness is certainly not dull itself…indeed you should use your very dullness in order to enter the Way. However, if you identify with dullness and regard yourself as incapable by nature of awakening, you will find yourself caught by the demon of dullness. As I see it, in our ordinary way of seeing things we tend to let the desire for awakening get ahead of us and thus turn it into an obstacle preventing our true understanding from manifesting. But this obstacle is neither outside ourselves nor separate from ourselves—it is none other than the Master perceiving itself as “dull.” For this reason everyday Ruiyan Shiyan would call to himself, “Master!” He would then answer himself, “Yes!” “Be wide awake!” he would say, and again answer himself, “Yes!” Then he would say, “Whatever the time, whatever the day, never be misled by others!” “Yes! Yes!” Try examining this in your own way. The one who asks, what is this? is none other than the one who perceives dullness. And the one who perceives dullness is none other than your own True Self. Whether it is dullness, distraction, anger, fear. Whatever we habitually identify with and appears to block our path. What happens when we turn our attention toward the one who is aware of this apparent block? The “master” or True Self is always at home. We are invited to recognize this always present awareness, for ourselves, in our own lives. Freedom and love. Always right here. We are entering the last weeks of this calendar year. Can we use this time to reconnect with our aspiration? To recognize the true self, and not be misled by others. And to also appreciate the season of practice we are in. There are times where we are actually developing our discernment, our discriminating mind. Some of us are learning to trust ourselves, to stand in our karma, to take responsibility for our lives. Part of Trust in Mind, is having the courage to take action, to follow the call when it arises. For some of us the call may take you to a monastery or into a period of inquiry and spiritual investigation. For others it may have more to do with how you are showing up in your lives, or it may be about healing, or responding to a relational challenge. I know some of you are sitting in the question and are listening for the next step. That’s part of this path too—I listened for 7 years before I had clarity, courage, conviction and life circumstances to move to the monastery. I am listening now for the next step on this path, as I continue to deepen my practice and develop new skills. Do not be deceived by others. I love this line. For many of us, it is a worthwhile practice to say this to ourselves, regularly. Who are these others? The thoughts in our own minds, the ones that are always comparing ourselves to someone else. What happens when we fully embrace this life? When we live our wisdom? When we honor our limitations, our karmic inheritance—and live the life we have? Tomorrow is Bodhi Day and I will be offering a telling of the Buddha’s awakening story. We will explore the hero’s journey in the Buddha’s story and see how elements of the Buddha’s path are part of our own journey’s. Join for the Monday Night dharma to hear this talk! I am also co-facilitating an exploration of the Astrology of the Winter Solstice with the Jung Association of Central Ohio this Saturday December 13th with Shawn Casey at the Burkhart Chapel. Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. Monday Dec 8th we will explore the Buddha’s awakening story! Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Universe Somatic: The Bright Thread in the Dark — January 22nd - 25th Universe Somatic is a practice that integrates group meditation, movement and energy work with a spirit of experimentation and playfulness. We explore the union of spaciousness and embodied energies in a contemplative practice that is embodied and expressive. The theme for this Universe Somatic is The Bright Thread In the Dark. We will play in knowing and not-knowing, hope and despair, yin and yang, creation and destruction, dancing in deep relationship with these polarities while also listening for the thread that doesn’t get stuck on either side. Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. Save the Dates! 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    28 min
  8. 11/22/2025

    When Obstacles Become the Path

    One stanza from the Trust in Heart poem says: Cut off all useless thoughts and words and there’s nowhere you cannot go. Returning to the root itself, you’ll find the meaning of all things. If you pursue appearances you overlook the primal source. Awakening is to go beyond both emptiness as well as form. I appreciate the clarity of these instructions. Here we find an invitation to practice with our thinking minds. I find that this instruction to “cut off” is more of an invitation to see through or into the thinking mind and recognize what thoughts really are. Especially thoughts that appear as hindrances. The repetitive inner critical thoughts, endless doubts, obsessive thinking about the future. What are thoughts made of? How long do they last? We are told in Buddhism to regard thought as another sense. What is this like? To notice the textural, auditorial, image-emotional experience of thinking. What happens when during a meditation period or in your daily life you turn attention to the thinking mind, to attend to the thought stream? When we see thoughts for what they are, they have less power over us. We don’t have to believe or even identify with everything we think—we also don’t need to get a in struggle with our thoughts. This teaching and practice empowers us to be more discerning. We use our thinking minds throughout the day—planning, reflecting, reasoning, contemplating, conversing. And it is possible to use the mind, without being used by the mind. This poem is inviting us to recognize the root of the thinking mind. The root of the thinking mind, is the root of all things. When we know experientially the true nature of the thinking mind which includes: doubt, inner critic, worry, anxiety, judgement, planning, other people’s thoughts, views, perspectives—then they have less power over us. Then everything turns around, we can see the light, bodhicitta— within each thought and/or emotion—no matter the content. Dahui, as great Zen teacher of the 12C says it this way in a letter to one of his students. This very moment just cease to entertain thought, putting an end to the confused mind. Then you will know that there is no delusion to be destroyed, no awakening to be aspired to, and no discriminatory thought to be cut off. With time erroneous views will disappear of themselves, and you will be like a person drinking water and knowing for themselves whether it is hot or cold. The mind that is clearly aware of discriminatory thought taking place—how can this mind possibly be obstructed? How can there possibly be any other kind of mind than this one? Since times of old the wise have taken to discriminatory thought like dragons to water and tigers to mountains. They regard discriminatory thought as a companion, employing such thought as upaya, and on the basis of discriminatory thought practice universal compassion and carry out all sorts of buddha deeds. For them, discriminatory thought is never a source of suffering because they understand its source. Once the source of discriminatory thought is fathomed it becomes the locus of liberation and of release from samsara. May we recognize the source of all thoughts and find freedom and love in our nature! Thank you! For the month of November Mud Lotus Sangha is sending 50% of our donations to the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resource Center to help those in our neighborhood who are struggling with food insecurity this month. All of our communities can use extra support and there are many ways to practice generosity. Thank you for all the ways that you show generosity to me and the other beings in your life. Weekly Online Meditation Event Monday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. We are currently exploring the Faith in Mind poem by the 3rd Chinese Ancestor. Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINK In-Person in Oregon Universe Somatic: The Bright Thread in the Dark — January 22nd - 25th Universe Somatic is a practice that integrates group meditation, movement and energy work with a spirit of experimentation and playfulness. We explore the union of spaciousness and embodied energies in a contemplative practice that is embodied and expressive. The theme for this Universe Somatic is The Bright Thread In the Dark. We will play in knowing and not-knowing, hope and despair, yin and yang, creation and destruction, dancing in deep relationship with these polarities while also listening for the thread that doesn’t get stuck on either side. Light of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 11 - 17 at Great Vow Zen Monastery In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus Sangha Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Retreats, Meditation instruction and other events can be found on our website. Save the Dates! 2026 Mud Lotus Sesshins at Saranam Retreat Center in West Virginia Mountains and Rivers Sesshin March 18 - 22 Interdependence Sesshin June 29 - July 5 I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha. Earth Dreams is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

    43 min

About

Zen Buddhist teachings point to a profound view of reality--one of deep interconnection and non-separation. Awakening is a word used to describe the freedom, creativity and love of our original nature. This podcast explores the profound liberating teachings of Zen Buddhism at the intersection of dreamwork and the soul. The intention is to offer a view of awakening that explores our deep interconnection with the living world and the cosmos as well as to invite a re-imagining of what human life and culture could be if we lived our awakened nature. Amy Kisei is a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Somatic IFS Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. She practices and teaches at the confluence of spirituality, psychology and somatics--affirming a wholistic path of awakening. You can learn more about Amy Kisei's upcoming retreats and/or 1:1 work on her website: https://www.amykisei.org/ amykisei.substack.com